Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?

Created: 08/26/15

Replies: 11

Posted Aug. 26, 2015
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davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 1358

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Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?

Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir? Are you a journal keeper?

Posted Aug. 30, 2015
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melanieb

Join Date: 08/30/14

Posts: 86

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RE: Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?

Florence keeps getting interrupted and distracted and so she has difficulty writing her memoirs. I think it's a common thing for a writer to want to do as one grows older -- to clarify, set the record straight, maybe just write from a different perspective.

Posted Sep. 01, 2015
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dianaps

Join Date: 05/29/15

Posts: 203

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RE: Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?

This is a question I was asking myself. Maybe she just wanted to publish one more time to remind everyone of who she was and what she had accomplished.

Posted Sep. 01, 2015
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lynnw

Join Date: 09/01/11

Posts: 129

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RE: Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?

I think perhaps Florence wants to be sure that her truth is told. No one really knows exactly how someone else thinks and feels.

Posted Sep. 02, 2015
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terriej

Join Date: 07/28/11

Posts: 142

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RE: Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?

I think Florence is writing a memoir because she feels that she has contributed to life and it should be noted. "Life" gets in the way and easily distracts her as it does to all of us when we are trying to focus on a task.

Posted Sep. 03, 2015
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joanr

Join Date: 04/25/12

Posts: 37

RE: Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?

Early on, she wants to write a memoir about the early days of the women's movement. As the novel progresses, we see her adding to her memoir (p.200) to include people who have betrayed their ideals over the years. Then, (p. 272) we see her drifting to her childhood and past, describing a memory "from the age of five or six, watching her mother fold laundry in their apartment in the Bronx." She was "filled with the desire to record things that no one else alive would know." Her intellectual side melts into her emotional side and we get a richer, broader insight into Florence.

Posted Sep. 08, 2015
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ruthiea

Join Date: 02/03/14

Posts: 86

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RE: Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?

I think she wanted to leave a legacy, to make sure she told her story her way. There were distractions and moments of self doubt that got in her way, as well as her memories that changed to tone of the book.

Posted Sep. 21, 2015
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andreab

Join Date: 07/29/14

Posts: 76

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RE: Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?

I am amazed by the courage it takes to write a memoir. You bare your soul to everyone, to be dissected and commented upon by strangers (or worse yet - friends). You hope people will respect you and your decisions. Florence takes a risk by laying her life out for others to peruse. I am not that courageous...

Posted Sep. 24, 2015
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marianned

Join Date: 07/02/15

Posts: 37

RE: Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?

Florence wants to capture the early days of the feminist movement and her role in it from what she sees as her unique perspective, which is one reason she has Emily do so much research into the past. As joanr adds, Florence also decides later in the book to add more personal early life memories. What stands in her way, ironically, is the increasing attention she chooses to pay to the very people she is annoyed with and tries to avoid in the book's beginning. Florence detests the setting of the party in the opening pages of the book, but she allows her one-on-one relationship with her ex-husband, friends, and Emily to "get in the way."

Posted Oct. 03, 2015
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Beth350

Join Date: 04/15/11

Posts: 67

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RE: Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?

I think she is trying to write a memoir in order to document her participation in the activist causes she has supported throughout her life. She feels these are important. But, her current life - little everyday things, get in the way of actually doing the writing.

Yes I have kept journals and tried to write memoirs of a sort. It is hard to stay focused on a memoir - even short pieces, when life keeps on happening and sometimes things change just enough to re-color the memories.

Beth350

Posted Oct. 13, 2015
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lindah

Join Date: 04/17/14

Posts: 90

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RE: Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?

Florence had a key role in the women's movement. History and memories are fleeting. Her memoir documents her place in a ground-breaking era and will help ensure her legacy is not forgotten. She is not adept at personal communication and this will allow her to speak to her granddaughter about her contributions.

Posted Oct. 13, 2015
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lindah

Join Date: 04/17/14

Posts: 90

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RE: Why is Florence writing a memoir? What difficulties keep getting in her way? Have you ever thought of writing a memoir/keeping a journal?